I’ve never been popular. In fact, I would probably say that I’m more liked now than I ever was as a child. I had a few friends, but I just wasn’t the most popular kid. I was an easy target. I wasn’t athletic and I did pretty well in school. I didn’t hit a growth spurt until I was in my late teens. At times, I was bullied. Probably due to certain personality traits, I was able to endure bullying with relative ease.

My situation is not true for everyone. Many kids really struggle with bullying and I totally understand why. Having your peers attack your worth as a human being is demeaning and crippling.

As I have gotten older, I feel like I’ve come to understand bullying from different angles. I can think back to situations where I was clearly bullied, but also I am ashamed to admit I can think of times where I was a bully.

If you think about it, there are probably those situations for you in your life. I think that we all have some level of bully in us, and if we are willing to admit it, there have been times that we have felt bullied. The smart person can bully the person who understands things more slowly. The athletic person can bully the person who just isn’t interested in sports. The theologian can bully the a person of opposing views.

We would love to introduce you to “Bully or Bullied” by FLYTE. It’s a great resource for helping your preteens understand the impact of bullying in hopes that they will be more able to cope with bullying in the future. Using solid biblical teaching, preteens will learn about people in the Bible who were both bullies and bullied. This resource is available digitally and can be downloaded today!

Jeff Land is Publishing Team Leader for Bible Studies For Life: Kids. He holds a BSW from Mississippi College and a MACE from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeff has served as children’s pastor and currently teaches second graders each week at his church. Jeff, his wife Abbey, and their four sons live in Coopertown, TN.

Social media can be a scary, overwhelming place at times, especially for people in ministry. Often there is so much negativity and anger rippling through our social media feeds that we wonder if there is any way to redeem these tools for kingdom good.

Well there is. Do not be discouraged.

Children’s ministers: the parents of the children in your care are on Facebook, Instagram, and other such platforms. Through social media, you have the ability to minister to them and equip them to minister to their children beyond the doors of your church building.

But you’re busy and there are so many options. I know. Here are a few ways you can get started:

1. Start a Facebook page for your children’s ministry.

Hopefully your church already has a Facebook page, but if you serve a large number of families and it is sometimes difficult to figure out the best way to keep in touch, a Facebook page (combined with a Facebook group, mentioned below) may be the best way to communicate vital information with people.

Starting a Facebook page for your children’s ministry can serve a number of important purposes like giving you a way to communicate with families in your church as well as giving you an opportunity to serve families in your broader community.

2. Start a Facebook group for your children’s ministry.

A Facebook group is different from a Facebook page in a number of ways. Because Facebook groups tend to be more private, you may not want to use a Facebook group to reach families in your community (see Facebook pages for that).

A Facebook group would be helpful for having a way to instantly communicate schedule changes or other important announcements to the families who regularly attend. This is a space where you could share prayer requests and coordinate meals for families in your church.

Facebook pages and Facebook groups are both important, but they do serve different purposes: pages are more public and groups are more private.

Whether you decide to create a Facebook page or a Facebook group for your children’s ministry, one of the best ways to serve the families in your church is by providing biblical parenting resources that may encourage and equip your parents.

The job of church leaders is to equip the church to do ministry. Through social media outlets, like Facebook, you have the opportunity to share biblical parenting resources like blog posts, videos, or other content that may help the families in your church and your community point their kids to Jesus.

Maybe you’re overwhelmed by all of this. It’s OK. Take a deep breath. If you aren’t sure where to start or you have more questions about how social media can help children’s ministry, I can point you in the right direction.

I help Christian leaders use social media to serve people all the time. It’s my job. In October, LifeWay is launching a service called LifeWay Social to help Christian leaders like you use social media to serve the people in your churches and communities.

The Lord has given you good gifts and he has given us tools like social media to share the good news of the gospel and to equip the saints for ministry. Don’t be overwhelmed to the point of paralysis. Let LifeWay Social help. Learn more at LifeWaySocial.com.

Chris Martin is Co-Creator of LifeWay Social and an Author Development Specialist at LifeWay. He loves helping Christian leaders use social media to serve the Church. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisMartin17.

We believe it’s essential to begin teaching Bible skills from a very young age. As kids learn the different divisions and structure of the Bible, they will understand God’s Word more clearly, providing a foundation for heart transformation.

We’ve developed a free Bible Skills Activity Guide for families and groups. Fill out the form below to download the guide and make copies for every family in your ministry. Parents will love the help as they seek to disciple their kids this summer.

By signing up for this Bible Skills Activity Guide, you will also receive free access to preview sessions of Explore the Bible. Every session of Explore the Bible: Kids brings the Bible to life through rich study and engaging objects, equips kids with foundational Bible knowledge and skills, and encourages them to live what they learn everywhere they go. Try sessions out with your kids, and watch the Word come alive.

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By signing up to receive the Preview sessions you will also receive update information regarding Explore The Bible.

Easter not only provides us with the opportunity to share the gospel message with our guests, but with our regular attending kids as well. One of the greatest joys of kids ministries is seeing our kids grow and reach the point where they can respond to the gospel by trusting in Christ. And the great thing about our regular kids is that we don’t have to contain the Easter story to just one Sunday—we can spread it out over several weeks and go even deeper to help move our kids toward saving faith in Christ.

The Gospel Project for Kids team has just released a new Easter Bible study resource called The Big Picture Easter Bundle. If you currently use The Gospel Project in your ministry, you will have an Easter unit included in your Spring 2017 content. However if you do not currently use The Gospel Project, and would like to experience a gospel-centered Easter resource, this may be just what you are looking for. This five-session digital resource can be used in your preschool and grade school classes all five Sundays in April to share the compelling story of the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, His crucifixion, resurrection, and appearances to His disciples.

Each session is designed to last one hour and includes downloadable Bible story videos, songs, music videos, leader guides, activity pages, posters, coloring sheets, cards, and more. The Big Picture Easter Bundle includes all of that for preschool and grade school and more for just $74.99. Churches can print as many of the resources as they need for their leaders and kids, making this a one-size-fits-all resource!

The five sessions include:

The Last Supper

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry

Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection

The Emmaus Disciples

Jesus Appeared to the Disciples

Each of the sessions will help share the Easter story with your preschoolers and kids, with each one pointing directly to the good news of the gospel through a Christ connection. If you are looking for Easter content to share with your preschoolers and kids, our hope is that The Big Picture Easter Bundle would be a resource that you could use to show your kids God’s love made known to us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Brian Dembowczyk is the team leader for The Gospel Project for Kids. He served in local church ministry for over 16 years before coming to LifeWay. Brian earned an M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his family live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

My grandmother was a first grade teacher for 39 years. She taught classes as large as 40 kids how to read. Amazing! In her free time, my grandmother also loved to collect samples of different primers that had been used through the years. She proudly showed me these readers one day and explained how the first source of reading for school children was the Bible itself. Many children learned to read for the sole purpose of reading the Bible.

I’ve thought about this fact through the years and love the idea of beginners starting to read with the Bible. But how do you pick the right passages? How can they understand it? And how can you build consistency? These are all valid questions.

Many of the guidelines for great kids’ devotions start with a level of simplicity that we as adults sometimes take for granted. Ten minutes is a great goal for a beginner’s devotion time. Consider the following 4 basics when encouraging kids toward establishing a 10-minute devotion time.

Basic 1: Kids can read the Bible. We take this fact for granted. The fact is that for centuries people did not own Bibles. Now we have Bibles in a variety of formats for all ages and kinds of people. Kids should primarily read the biblical text, not just commentary or stories.

Basic 2: Kids can learn to apply Bible teaching to their lives. God will use the Holy Spirit to draw kids to God, convict them of sin, and affirm the truth. This is where explanation and devotion—which makes the Bible real and applicable to the everyday life of your child—is crucial.

Basic 3: Kids can learn truths about God and Jesus. In other words, our children can also be little theologians. They can talk about God, learn what the Bible teaches, and share the gospel message with others. They can build faith as they spend time with God each day.

Basic 4: Kids can pray to God (talking and listening). Think about it. The Supreme God of the Universe wants to keep an open line of communication with our kids. Teach kids to talk to God and listen.

For additional helps, we recommend our line of kids’ devotionals, featuring 10-minute devotions for your children each day: a Scripture passage, devotion, prayer, and Bible-learning activity or fun fact. Just right for your kids and their daily time with God! There are three monthly magazines:

More for kids ages 4 to 7—Perfect to use together to model personal devotion time until your child is ready to have a devotion time on her own each day.

Adventure for kids ages 7 to 10—For your confident reader to read on his own each day or part of family devotions.

Bible Express for preteens 10 & up—In a flip-book format, one set of devotions for girls, and the other for boys, plus feature articles that will speak directly to your preteen’s daily life.

William Summey is the Publishing Team Leader for ParentLife, kids devotionals, and short-term products. He is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Vanderbilt University. William lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Christy, and two boys

Christmas is fast approaching. Consider this festive wrapping paper an early Christmas gift from LifeWay Kids. We are so thankful for the role you play in kids’ lives. Click the image below to download your freebie today.Click here to download your free wrapping paper. (PDF)

Once or twice a week, you meet with kids face-to-face, speaking into their development as disciples. You know they are growing spiritually, but imagine the exponential growth that could take place if they make it a priority to spend daily time in the Word.

This week, we’re hosting a giveaway to help you equip kids to study the Bible on a daily basis. Enter below for a chance to win 20 copies of devotions for three different age groups. See the images and downloads below for details on devos.

Adventure engages kids ages 7–10 and cultivates the disciplines of daily Bible reading and spending time with God. The content is designed to invite today’s media-savvy kids to have a daily relationship-building experience with God. Each devo includes fun facts, puzzles, and games.

Bible Express is designed for ages 10 and up. Each issue is produced in a flip-book style with separate sections for boys and girls that is made up of fun facts, puzzles, missionary kid stories, and games. Kids will carry this cool, magazine-style devo everywhere they go.

Chuck Peters and Jana Magruder invite Tim Pollard, team leader of Explore the Bible: Kids to join them for the final episode in the curriculum podcast series. Explore the Bible: Kids, is an ongoing curriculum designed to help churches teach kids the Bible book by book. They share how churches can help kids study the Bible book by book in its context and discuss other helpful Explore the Bible: Kids resources.

For many Bible Studies For Life: Kids fans, you’ve come to know and love the kids at Mayflower Elementary School over the past three years. It’s been a fun cycle, but those kids have grown up and it is time for them to take Middle School by storm. This Fall, we are introducing a new line-up of awesome life application videos called “Gumshoe Lane Agency.” We are thrilled to introduce you to Juniper and Chuck, the detectives who will go to great lengths to find out the real answers to life’s questions.

Before we bid farewell to the Mayflower kids in the last session of the Summer 2016 Bible Studies For Life: Kids curriculum, we had the opportunity to talk to the people who created the series, including some of the talented cast that made up the Mayflower team.

Jeff Land is Publishing Team Leader for Bible Studies For Life: Kids. He hold a BSW from Mississippi College and a MACE from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeff has served as children’s pastor and currently teaches second graders each week at his church. Jeff, his wife Abbey, and their four sons live in Coopertown, TN.

Every morning we would get up, walk to breakfast, and then head outside on the cafeteria’s empty patio for quiet time. The first morning, I explained to kids that they would follow the guide provided by the camp to read their Bibles, respond by answering questions, and spend time praying. Kids spread out quietly, and then one-by-one they came back to me to ask questions.

I quickly realized that I needed to not only tell them how to have a quiet time, as I’m sure I’ve told them dozens of times at church, but I needed to show them. I herded them into a circle and we proceeded to walk through the quiet time guide together.

These are great kids who are growing up in Christian homes, but many of them needed a little reminder about how to have a quiet time and why it is so important that we spend time with God each day. Your kids might need a frequent reminder as well!

As a children’s minister, one of my biggest goals is to help equip parents to disciple their children; and as a parent, my biggest goal is to point my kids to Jesus. There is no greater thing you can do for your kids than to model following Jesus for them. Let them see you do your quiet time. Help them with their quiet time. Spend time praying and reading the Bible together. There are so many great resources to help you do so today.

I’m a big fan of the Bible journaling movement. I love to draw and meditate on Scripture by writing out a verse. Recently, I’ve discovered that this can be done alongside kids as well! My kids are too small to do this yet…they can’t read, or write, or talk for that matter, but I look forward to the day I can do Bible journaling with them. For now, I’ll have to settle for journaling for them – writing in a Bible I will one day give them.

We are giving away 15 copies of the Life Verse Creative Journal by Jana and Morgan Grace. Enter here!

Mary Wiley works with B&H Publishing now, but she was a member of The LifeWay Kids team for 5 years prior. She lives in Lebanon, TN with her husband, two babies under 8 months, and tiny, hyper dog. She serves as the children’s minister at Fairview Church.